The unemployment rate in Egypt declined to 8.1% of the total labour force during the first quarter (Q1) of 2019, compared to 8.9% in Q4 of 2018, a 2.5% decline compared to Q1 of 2018, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).

Egypt’s labour force registered 27.968 million people in Q1 of 2019, including 22.925 million males and 5.043 million females. The labour force in urban areas reached 11.577 million people, while it recorded 16.391 million in rural areas, according to CAPMAS.

The agency explained that the number of unemployed persons reached 2.267 million, of whom 1.315 million are males and 952,000 are females, a decrease of 9.0% or 224,000 persons compared to Q4 of 2018, and a 26.7% decrease compared to Q1 of 2018.

The unemployment rate among males declined to 5.7% of the total labour force, compared to 6.4% in Q4 of 2018, and 7.3% in Q1 of 2018. While the unemployment rate among females decreased to 18.9% of the total female labour force, compared to 19.6% in Q4 of 2018, and 22.0% in Q1 of 2018.

The unemployment rate for the age group between 15-29 years-old was 67.4% of the total unemployed persons, 6.2% in the 15-19 age group, 30.8% in the 20-24 age group, and 30.4% in the 25-29 age group, the agency said.

The unemployment rate in urban areas dropped to 9.8% of the total labour force, compared to 10.9% in Q4 of 2018, and 12.1% in Q1 of 2018. The unemployment rate in the rural areas also dropped to 6.9% of the labour force, compared to 7.5% in Q4 of 2018, and 9.5% in Q1 of 2018.

The agency added that the rate of unemployment among people with education degrees from middle-school up to university level declined to 77.9% in Q1 of 2019, compared to 87.3% in Q4 of 2018.

The number of employed males is estimated at 21.610 million, while there are 4.091 million employed females. In urban areas, there are 10.447 million employed people, while the number of those employed in rural areas reached 15.254 million, according to the agency.

The CAPMAS said the number of wage workers reached 17.961 million people in Q1 of 2019 accounting for 69.9% of the total employed, of whom 15.262 million are males and 2.699 million are females.

The number of business owners reached 2.196 million people, of whom 2.084 million are males and 112,000 are females, amounting to 8.5% of the total employed.

While the number of self-employed individuals reached 3.750 million, of whom 3.415 million are male workers and 335,000 are female, accounting for 14.6% of the total self-employed.

The number of people involved in unpaid work or family businesses amounted to 1.794 million workers, of whom 849,000 are males, and 945,000 are females, accounting for 7.0% of the total employed.

“The economic contribution reached 41.6% of the total population in Q1 of 2019, compared to 42.2% in Q4 of 2018 and 44.3% in Q1 of 2018,” according to the agency.

Agriculture and fishing account for largest share of workers in economic activities, reaching 5.425 million people, of whom 4.498 million are male and 927,000 are female, accounting for 21.1% of the employed, according to the agency.